Travelling To- Bath City

Here it is, the start of the 2016/17 campaign and where better to start my adventure than at a new ground. I say ‘new ground’, Twerton Park was built 107 years ago (1909) but it was the first time I had visited the home of Bath City Football Club.

With a few hours to kill in Bath city centre, I managed to grab some food and take in some of my surroundings. The city is known for its Bath stone buildings and of course the Roman Baths as well as some beautiful parks, rivers and architecture, the place just oozes with class.

With former Crewe shot stopper Steve Phillips residing between the sticks in Bath in his later years, a chance for a catch up with a former Alex player and a free ticket was too good an opportunity to miss.

It also gave me a chance to catch up with my best mate Dan (based in Bristol) who joined me for the thrilling encounter with Scottish Premier League side Partick Thistle.

And the Crewe links didn’t stop there. The Thistle line up included two former reds in the shape of Abdul Osman and Mathias Pogba, with the former as happy to see a friendly face as Phillips was.

The Game

A trio of second half goals condemned Scottish Premier League side Partick Thistle to a heavy friendly defeat at the hands of National League South side Bath City.

After Billy Murphy’s opener from the spot just before half time, the Romans steamrolled their guests in the second half with goals from Nick McCootie, Shaquille Hunter and Josh Hutchinson.

The opening exchanges were somewhat scrappy with both teams struggling to find that clinical edge in the final third.

Thistle did come close through a defensive mix up but a confident Steve Phillips happily let the ball bounce off the post before picking it up.

Bath manager Gary Owens was forced into an early change when a head injury to Start Fleetwood abruptly ended the non league journeyman’s afternoon.

The hosts did manage to take a slender lead into the break from the penalty spot. Midfielder Murphy stepped up to fire past the trialist ‘keeper in the Partick goal after McCootie was bundled over.

Plenty of substitutions took place after the restart and striker McCootie doubled the advantage on 48 minutes. Former Bristol Rovers forward Shaquille Hunter, fresh from the bench, trebled the lead with the goal of the game, his curling effort bounced off the post and in. Josh Hutchinson completed the rout with a headed effort two minutes later to end the game 4-0.

The Stadium

With one seated stand, the ground looks as old as it is, but with age comes great character. With the sun shining it was great to stand on the terrace in front of the main stand and enjoy the game. Proper football.

On a wet day I can imagine the seated area packing out very quickly and the pillars supporting the roof could restrict the view slightly, common with old stadia though.

A decent sized car park, a nice clubhouse, the ground ticks all the boxes for a local non-league venue. The pitch looked in good condition (you’d hope so for the start of pre-season).

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip to Twerton Park and I wish everyone connected to Bath City all the best for the season.

Keep an eye out for my next adventure, pre-season has started and the games are coming in thick and fast across July.

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About

Having been to well over 500 games and already visited over 150 grounds, I am often asked 'Do I write about my adventures?'. My answer to that question had always been followed with a simple 'no', until now.
As the start of the 2016/17 season creeps ever nearer, I felt that it would be a good time to set up this blog. The Terrace Traveller is born. Keep checking this blog to find out which patch of grass I will be watching football at next. Enjoy!